Of all the people in town Carl Grimes was the one Spike earnestly had no interest in running into today. Sure the boy was a good kid, and had been polite as well. Yet Dawn Summers was his...well not his daughter, but definitely his family. Even before marrying Buffy, William had watched over Dawn for 147 days. Had protected and cared for the lil Niblet as if she was his own child. And all that without the aid of having a soul too. So to say that the bleach blonde vampire was protective of the littlest Summers was certainly and understatement.
All that emotional goodness, compacted by the fact that the nocturnal being was out during the bright daylight instead of being in bed where he belonged; and mixed in with the hours of frustration Spike had already endured while working on that project of his too...all of it came together and boiled to the surface the moment Spike spotted Carl. Just hearing the boy call out his name, had William's demon stirring awake. That vampiric demon visage replace Spike's human face, all while a low rumbling growl unconsciously reverberated from within his chest.
Gold eyes flickered with rage as they locked onto Carl too. However instead of launching himself at the kid to rip that remaining eye out, despite the demon craving that action to be sure, William went stone still. Fists and jaw both clenched alike, as the man forced himself to count to ten and literally take a breath. At last his misplaced rage dissipated enough for that demon mask to melt away. And when all trace of the vamp fangs and bumpy forehead were gone Spike finally sighed at last.